Improvement in harvester-cutters



' BONHOLTZER a. SHOPP.

Harvester Cutter.

No. 94,705. Patented Sept. 14, 1869.

HENRY'BONHOLTZER AND JACOB S. SHOPP, OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANA.

Letters Patent No. 94,705, dated Sqtember 14, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTER-CUTTERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of tnesame.

To all whom 'tt may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY BoNHoLTzEn and JACOB S. SHOPP, of Cumberlandcounty, (near Mechanicsburg,) in the State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented new and useful Improvements on Reaping and Mowing-M'achines;and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had .to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspeciiication, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a portion ofa cutter-bar, with two 'sickles or cutters in place, and one removed, toshow the chamber for the spring, a detached cutter, and springs, showingthe upper and lower sides, with Figure 2 for further illustration,showing the spring in place.

Figure 3, a perspective view of our heel to the cutter-bar.

Figure 4, the several parts detached.

The nature ot' our invention consists inthe manner of making andattaching the knives to the cutterbar, so as to be easily removed, forgrinding, and replaced, without the ordinary boit, screw, orrivetfastening. y

Also, in the manner of constructing the heel and connection with thepitman, in order to save time and expense in repairing the wear and tearon the same.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our'invention, it isonly necessary to referto the drawings, with a brief' explanation.

First, our sickles or cutters A are clearly shown detached, and alsoattached to finger-bar, in tig. l. They are provided with a neck, a,bevelled on the sides, with a square notch, j, cut out behind.

The shoulders s t against the edge of the bar B.

The bevelled neck a slides, dovetail fashion, in sunken portions, b, ofthe bar, made to receive them, and present a level surface on the -topof the combined cutter and intermediate raised portions of the bar.

At the base of the triangular cutters A, the sides adjoin each other, soas to allow grinding-surface, say, of one-fourth to halt` an inch,abutting against each other.

Two holes t' t are made in the neck a of the cut- `ter, for thereception of the pins l (I, on the springplate D.

The face of the sunken portion b, with its bevclled sides, has an oblongrecess, opening outward to the rear of the bar, for the spring-plate Dand its projecting ear or end e.

This bar D has twopins d d, made to t the holes 'i t', in the neck ornarrow part a of the cutters aforesaid, and is pressed upward byabow-spring, s,riveted centrally' to the bar, as shown.

By pressing this plate down, the spring yields, to allow the narrowedneck a of the cutters to slide in the bevelled groove up to theshoulders s, when the pins are forced up, and catch in the holes adaptedfor vtheir reception.

Through the open notch j, the spring can be depressed, and the cuttersremovcd,'for grinding them with ease.

Screws are objectionable. lVhen the slot becomes damaged, or the headbroken, there is more trouble in removing the screw than a rivet. Nocatch of any kind would be required so longr asthe knives are vin actionupon grain or grass, but, in turning, the motion might tend to throwthem out, while in rapid motion, without resistance. Therefore thisspring-catch arrangement answers every purpose; and, byreaching underwith a tool for the purpose, the spring is sooner pressed down than todraw a screw, however easy, for which, also, a tool will be necessary.Thus the knives can be ground on an ordinary grindstone with ease,saving much trouble andlabor.

The' heel to the cutter-bar, which is soon worn at its connection withthe pitman by the friction of the crank-action, whether hooked in theold manner, having a side-action, or, by a forked joint, directly to thelug of the heel, soon produces an oval hole for the bolt, and a tendencyto give the bar a vertical or jumping motion.

To prevent the expense of throwing away the whole heel, and to remedythe jumping action, we form our heel as shownby figs. 3 and 4.

Instead ofau ordinary rounded lug or fulcrum, with a hole, for the bolt,through the sides H, we form a square or oblonghole longitudinally withthe bar in l, marked M, and a square side-hole, N, for a wedge, lV.

We have an extra piece, G, with a shank, O, and notch V, and shoulderedand rounded endg, with a hole, for the bolt K.

This extra piece G- O is inserted into M, in I-I, and fastened by thewedge W, driven through the sideholc N and notch V, which firmly securesit.

The pitman l), with its forked end F, is now connected with the extrapiece G y, and the headed holt K secured by the nut L, in the ordinarymanner.

This arrangement gives the cutter-bar a more uniform horizontal motion.The joint, being further removed, not only allows of a free up-and-downmotion, but also a more central action in a line with the motion of thebar, obviating all sidefriction or lateral chaling of the pitman, and isbelieved to be durable and efiicicnt in use.

\Vhen the eye of the extra piece is worn out, it can therefore we do notclaim the fork-attaellrnent; but

We-are not aware that such an attachment has ever been made to 'anintervening or extra piece, as herein shown and described; therefore,

What vWe claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

The construction and mode of applying the cutters A, with bevellednarrower ends a, notch j, and holes t', iu combination with the recessb, and spring-plate D, and cells formed `in the cutter-bar B, in themanner and for the purpose shown and specified.

HENRY BON HOLTZER. JACOB S. SHOPP.

vVVitn esses JOHN PALMER, J ACoB MILLEIL

